Hi Warren,
I'm probably not the best person to answer the bulk of your questions
because I'm not a developer. I can address one of them about keyboard
shortcuts. I think I need to say something about your tone, as well. Don¹t
get upset about that, because I understand how you feel.
First of all, there are lots of keyboard shorts for Squeak. Tonnes. If you
want to see a few of them then I refer you to my (now 60,000 word! Yeah!)
blog, which has screenshots and an index. Look up Squeak, and you'll see
screenshots and blog entries that can take you to shortcuts.
http://www.brokentomb.com
About your tone. You are saying two things in your message that are not
exactly obvious. One: you care a lot about the answers. Two: You expect
others to justify why Squeak is different. Nobody cares if you don't like
Squeak. Don't act so defensive. Do you miss the Emacs shortcuts or are you
afraid you're falling for the unpopular girl a the party?
I felt the way you do now three months ago. Go to my blog index and look up
the word "anger".
Chris Cunnington
Toronto